Economy 1951-64 Flashcards
Possible exam question: Conservative economic policies 1951-64 led to positive growth. How would you disagree?
By saying it was short term success
Give 3 pieces of evidence for economic growth in the years 1951-64
Leisure time and consumer goods - car ownership went up 25% just 1957-59- the giveaway budget of £134 million in tax cuts to the middle classes meant people could afford holidays and washing machines
Workers - wages rose from £8.6s to £18.35s - only 1% of the population were unemployed - the car and steel industries were booming and there were new secondary/tertiary service jobs which 5 million were employed in by 1960.
Credit - credit and hire purchase schemes meant people could borrow and buy with confidence - also coincided with more house building so most people owned a home.
How would you evaluate those 3 pieces of evidence?
Credit - people having more money and buying more led to an increase in imports meanwhile exports remained the same - this caused inflation
Workers - wages weren’t always rising - in 1961 there was a ‘pay pause’ in order to control inflation. Also for all the new jobs in the service industry there was a decline in primary manufacturing jobs like mining and fishing.
Leisure time/affluence - tax cuts meant demand and imports rose way too high so they were in a state of stagflation and there were cuts to public spending.
Give 2 pieces of evidence that the economy was growing consistently
International comparisons - slow growth compared to others - only 7th - partially this was due to trade with Empire and the Commonwealth not being enough or as substantial as it would be with Europe
Inflation and stop-go - consistently unstable - 1961 pay pause and application for IMF loan - tax cuts (esp of £370 million in 1959 and again in 1963) meant that when the Tories left office in 1964 there was a BOP deficit of £800 million.
